It should prove a fascinating matchup, pitting perhaps the NFL's best defense in the 49ers with the Saints undisputed best offense. The Saints underscored that attribute against the Lions, breaking a handful of NFL records, and the 626 yards the team gained broke a postseason record that had stood since 1963.

That sort of firepower overwhelmed Detroit (10-7), which played quite well in its first playoff appearance since 1999 and was in the game into the third quarter. The Lions will now look to build on the franchise's most successful campaign in years, while the Saints continue their pursuit of a Super Bowl return.

The 49ers feature three of the starting front-seven defensive players on the NFC Pro Bowl roster, but the Saints have a seemingly endless array of weapons on offense. On a night when some of the Saints stars made what appeared, at the time, to be dangerous blunders, they recovered and crushed a quality opponent, scoring more than 40 points for the fourth consecutive game.

Quarterback Drew Brees, for example, threw more than one pass that probably should have been intercepted, and fumbled on a sack in the second quarter with the Saints trailing. But he finished by completing 33 of 43 passes for 466 yards and three touchdowns. In the process, he broke the record for passing yards in an NFC wild card game, and his 77 percent completion rate was higher than his record 71.2 percentage in the regular season.

Similarly, wide receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem had mental breakdowns in the first half; Colston with a fumble that snuffed the Saints first drive with the team trailing 7-0, and Meachem with a long pass that inexplicably went right between his hands. Both brushed aside those early errors and finished with huge numbers; Colston caught seven passes for 120 yards and Meachem gained 111 yards on four catches, including a 56-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that blew the game wide open, 38-21 in New Orleans' favor.

That sort of prolific passing attack was made possible by a powerful running game. Working against a defense that prides itself on the strength of its line, the Saints pounded out 167 yards on the ground, with both Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles turning in splendid performances.

Afterward, Meachem said the Saints finally managed to shrug off their first round playoff loss on the road in Seattle last season.

"We can stop hearing about that now," Colston said, after having his first playoff game with more than 100 yards receiving.

The turnaround Saturday night was largely a product of the team's personality, and the approach for Detroit was to be true to the team's identity, according to Meachem.

"The mindset for us was just go out and have fun and play football," he said. "Stop being so uptight. We wanted to just get back to being us."

Coach Sean Payton noted that mindset includes a healthy dose of physicality, too.

"We tip our hat to Detroit for coming in here and playing their guts out," Payton said. "That's a good win for us, and an especially good second half of football. We had some good effort plays. I thought there was a ton of yards after contact. We had a good rotation with those three guys. I was pleased with our balance and we overcame those two turnovers in the first half."

Indeed, the final wide margin of victory appeared only in the closing minutes. Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, who completed 28 of 43 attempts for 380 yards and three touchdowns, took the opening possession and led the Lions 80 yards on eight plays, finishing with a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Heller that made the score 7-0.

The Saints scored on a 2-yard run by Sproles to tie the score, but the Lions responded, taking a 14-7 lead with 9:11 left in the second quarter on a 13-yard pass from Stafford to wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Johnson, heralded by Payton and others as the best receiver in football but throttled when Detroit visited New Orleans last month, lived up to the hype Saturday, gaining 211 yards on 12 catches and adding a second score on a 12-yard pass in the fourth quarter.

By then, however, the game had been decided.

New Orleans whisked away a 14-10 halftime deficit. John Kasay kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, after the Saints had gone for it on fourth down earlier in the 14 play, 78 yard scoring drive and a what first appeared to be a touchdown catch by Colston was nullified, "after further review."

"We made some big plays, especially in the second half, and that was encouraging," Payton said. "I was pleased how we protected the ball in the second half."

Perhaps none of those plays was bigger than a 41-yard pass Brees threw to wide receiver Devery Henderson on the opening possession of the second half that gave the Saints a lead they did not relinquish.

"The way we bounced back from that speaks to our resolve," Colston said. "We knew going in at halftime with the two turnovers that if we could just go out and do what we have to do to start the second half, we would be all right."

The Saints added a 3-yard pass from Brees to tight end Jimmy Graham to stretch their lead to 24-14 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter and seemed on the verge of cruising to an easy victory, but Stafford and the Lions kept fighting.

Instead, the Lions launched an 80-yard touchdown drive. The key play was a 42-yard gain on a rainbow Stafford launched under a furious rush. The ball arced toward the left corner, and Johnson beat safety Malcolm Jenkins by a step and gathered the ball in at the 2-yard line. After the Lions were stuffed twice up the middle, Stafford took it himself on a roll-out and just touched the goal-line pylon with the ball as his knee hit for the score that made the score 24-21 heading into the final quarter.

By then, however, the Saints had taken control in the trenches. The Lions' formidable front four, which got defensive tackle Ndamokung Suh back after he missed the first matchup because of a suspension, was no longer able to hound Brees.

"They gave us some fits in the first half," Payton acknowledged. "There were times where Drew was backing up, some sacks, but as the game wore on we started to win some of those battles."

The Saints dominance up front was evident throughout the fourth quarter. Sproles scored on a 17-yard run with 9:58 left to again give the Saints a 10-point cushion at 31-21. Sproles and Thomas were the undisputed engines of that drive, carrying the ball or catching a Brees pass on six of the 14 plays.

Cornerback Jabari Greer, whom the Lions attacked throughout the game, got his revenge on the Lions first play, intercepting a pass Stafford launched under severe stress from defensive end Will Smith. Five plays later Brees found Meachem wide, wide open down the left side and connected for the 56-yarder that made it 38-21 with 7:39 remaining.

The rest of the scoring Ã Johnson's second touchdown catch and a 1-yard run by Thomas Ã merely added to the final score and helped push it beyond the 59 point spread set by Las Vegas 1/3 the highest in the history of the NFL playoffs.

Still, while clearly satisfied with their victory, the Saints made it clear their full satisfaction remains unfulfilled. The next step will come in San Francisco, and a crisper performance will be needed there.

"We can't start with two turnovers out there and try to play from behind," Thomas said.

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James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or 504.717.1156.